Elevator door operating apparatus



Jar 1. 2, 1934- H. w. MATTINGLIY ET AL 1#942,253

ELEVATOR DOOR OPERATING APPARATUS Filed March 6, 1929 INVENTOR Harald14/. Matting] y k Pram? E. L, ewz's.

A TToRNEY Patented Jan. 2, 1934 ELEVATOR noon orEnA'rmo APPARATUS HaroldW. Mattingly, Swissvale, and Frank E.

Lewis, Forest Hills, Pa., assignors to Westinghouse Electric andManufacturing Company, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application March6, 1929. Serial No. 344,735

2 Claims. (01. 187-52),

Our inventionrelates to elevator-door-operatingsystems and 'moreparticularly to operating systems for rapidly opening and closingelevator doors at the landings at which the elevator cars make stops.

In the present day installations of elevator systems in tall buildings,the cars are usually arranged to operate at a high speed of 700 feet ormore per minute for the purpose of handling a large number of passengerswith a minimum numbers ofcars. I

While the speed of the cars is a factor 0! considerable importance. inthe rapid and economical operation'of elevator systems, there is anotherfactor having a decided bearing upon the number of passengers theelevators may be able to transport within a given period that has notyet been satisfactorily taken care of and that is the time consumed inopening and closing the doors at the landings where stops are made forpassengers to enter and leave the cars.

It is evident that any decrease in the time required in opening andclosing the doors will lower the time required by the cars in collectingand discharging passengers at the landings and thereby speed up theoperation of the elevator system as a whole. I

Therefore, it is an object of our invention to provide for opening andclosing the doors of an elevator within a minimum amount of time.

Another object or our invention is to provide for rapidly opening anelevator door at a landingas a car approaches a stop at that landing forthe purpose of saving the time that would otherwise be consumed inopening the door after the car actually stops.

A further object of our invention is to provide for overcoming thedifilculty of operating elevator doors when the door tracks becomeclogged with dirt, snow or ice tracked in by the users of the elevator.

It is also an object of our invention to provide anelevator-door-operating system that shall be simple and eiiicient inoperation and capable of being economically constructed, installed andmaintained.

Other objects of our invention will, in part, be obvious and will, inpart, appear hereinafter.

For an illustration of one of the many forms our invention may take,reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic view representing an elevator installation thatis provided with a dooroperating system constructed and arranged inaccordance with our invention; and

Fig. 2 is a detailed view, in perspective, of one 01' the door-operatingclutches embodied in the system shown-in Fig. 1.

The drawing illustrates a car 0 assuitably suspended in a hatchway by ahoisting cable Ca that passes over'a hoisting drum D to a suitablecounterweight Cw. The hoisting drum D is directly coupled to, andoperated by, the armature EM of an elevator hoisting motor EM. Y

A variable voltage system of control may be provided for the elevatormotor EM, wherein the armature EM oi the elevator motor is connected inloop circuit with the armature Gof the generator G. The generator G isprovided with a separately excited iield winding GF and an accumulativeseries field winding GSF. The armature G of the generator G is suit-ablydriven by means of a driving motor M illustrated as being oi theshunt-wound type having its armature M and its field winding MFconnectedin shunt relation to a source of power designated as the supplyconductors .Li and L2. The elevator motor EM has its field winding EMFconnected for constant-voltage energization to the supply conductors L1and L2.

hoisting motor EM may be suitably controlled by controlling thedirection and value oi. the excitation current that is supplied to theseparately err cited field winding GF 01 the generator (3-.

The direction oi the excitation current for the field winding GF may besuitably controlled by means of an lip-direction switch 1 and adowndirection switch 2, while the value of the current supplied to thefield winding may be controlled on by m'ean'sof a high-speed relay HR.

The operation of the up-direction and the down-direction switches 1 and2 may be controlled by means of a car switch CS that is mounted upon theelevator car C in position to be actuated by an attendant on the car.

As shown, the hatchway for the car C is providcd with a plurality ofcorridor doors 14, 15 and 16. Associated with each of the doors is adoor-operating lever 17 on the outer end or which is mounted amechanically operated clutch 18 which may be energized to grip a buttonor other gripping device 19 (see Fig. 2) on a door-operating member orcable 20, when the door is to be moved to an open or to a closedposition. The cable 20 passes around an idler sheave 21 near the bottomof the hatchway and then up the hatchway past the doors 14, 15 and 16and over a driving sheave 22 that is coupled to a door-operating motorDM.

In the operation of elevators, the door tracks often become clogged withdirt, snow or ice tracked in by the users of the' elevators to such anextent that the doorsstick and become difficult to move. Again, whilethe doors are originally adjusted to work smoothly and easily, the doortracks become warpedor moved out of line after considerable service andthus cause the doors to bind at certain points in their, travel.

Heretofore, when the doors have been provided withpower-operated motors,the sticking or binding of the doors has slowed the operation-of'theelevator considerably by stalling or slowing the door-operating motorsbecause the 'motors have been supplied with a predetermined limitedamount of power,

Therefore, in order to overcome the difiiculties caused by the stickingor binding of the doors, we have provided a variable-voltage system ofcontrol for operating the door motor DM in such manner that any stickingor binding of the doors will cause sufilcient additional power to beapplied to the door-moving apparatus to overcome the sticking andbinding and prevent the stalling of the door-operating motor.

In providing the variable-voltage system of control for thedoor-operating motor DM, its field winding DMF is connected, forconstant-voltage energization, to the supply conductors L1 and L2,

while its armature DM' is connected in loop circuit with the armature DGof a generator DG.

The generator DG is provided with a suitable exciting field winding DGF,a demagnetizing Y winding DGF' and a suitable cumulative series fieldwinding DSF. The series field winding DSF' is so proportioned thatcumulative compounding of the generator DG is achieved to increase thevoltage supply to the door-operating motor DM under'an increase in load,and to decrease the voltage supply to the motor under a light load insuch proportions as to counteract the otherwise normal characteristic ofthe motor to decrease its speed 'or to stall when its load is increasedby the sticking or the binding 01' the door.

The armature DG' 01 the generator D5 is suitably driven by means of adriving motor DRM,

illustrated as being or the shunt-wound type having its armature DRM'and its field winding DRMF connected in shunt relation to the supplyconductors L1 and L2.

The direction and speed of operation of the door-operating motor DMmaybe suitably controlled by controlling the direction and value of theexcitation current that is supplied to the separately excited fieldwinding DGF of the generator DG.

The direction of the excitation current for the winding DGF may besuitably controlled by means of a door-opening relay 10 and adoor-closing relay 12, while the value of the current supplied to thefield winding may be controlled by a highspeed door relay 11 when thedoors are being openedand by a high-speed door relay 13 when the doorsare being closed.

The coils of the door-opening relay 10 and the door-closing relay 12 areconnected to suitable contact members or the car switch CS in order thatthe operation of the relays to open or to close the doors may beeffected by movements of the car switch to start and stop the car.-

Associated with each of the doors is a controlling device 23 forcontrolling the speed 0! operation of the doors.

A, B, C, D and E that are secur d to the door Each of the controllingdevices 23 comprises a plurality of contact strips frame and acooperating" brush 24 mounted on the door in such position that itwill-slidingly engage the contact strips A, B, C, D and E as the door ismoved to a closed or to an open position.

The contact strip C is connected directly to the supply conductor L2,while the contact strips A and B are connected to the supply conductorL1 through circuits for opening the door, and the contact strips D and Eare connected to the supply conductor Ll through circuits for closingthe door.

The contact strips A and B are extended and arranged to be engaged bythe brush 24 in such manner that, while full power will'be supplied tothe door-operating motor as the door starts to open, the power will bereduced to decelerate the motor as the door nears the end of its traveland will be completely cut off to stop the motor as the door reaches itsfull-open position. Similarly, the contact members D and E are arrangedto cooperate with the brush 24 to supply full power to the door as itstarts to close and then to reduce the power and finally to cut it ofias the door reaches its closed position.

Included in the systemis a fioor selector F8 for connecting the circuitsfor the door-operating relays 10 and 12, the door high-speed relays l1and 13, the electromagnetic clutches 19 and the controlling devices .23of the doors in such manner that none of the doors can be opened orclosed by manipulation oi the car switch CS unless the car is adjacentto the door that is to be opened or closed.

The fioor selector FS maybe similar to those usually employed in theelevator control and signal art and may be located at any suitablepoint, for example, in the pent house or in the elevator shaft.

As shown, the floor selector FS is provided with a plurality of upcontact segments and a plurality of down" contact segments that aredisposed to be engaged by a plurality of cooperating 28,- 29, 32, 33, 34and 35 are connected to the contact strips of the controlling devices 23of the doors, while the contact segments under the brushes 30 and 31 areconnected to the magnetically operated clutches 19 for connecting thedoor levers 17 to the door-operating rope 20.

The invention may be understood best from an assumed operation of theapparatus illustrated in the'drawing.

Assuming that the car 0 is standing at the top floor, that the doors areclosed and that the attendant, desiring to start the car downward,

moves the car switch CS in a clockwise direction, then the directionswitch 2 will be energized for. moving the car downward by way of acircuit that extends from supply conductor L1, through conductor 40, thecontact members 41, 42 and 43 of the car switch CS, conductor 44, thecoil of down-direction switch 2, conductors 45 and 46 and thence,inseries, through door contact members 47, 48 and 49 and in conductor50, to supply conductor L2. I

The closing of the contact members a and b on the down-direction switch2, energizes the field winding GF 0! the generator G with current in onedirection by way of a circuit that extends from supply conductorLl,'through conductors 51 and 52, the contact members b ofdown-direction switch 2, conductors 53 and 54', the field winding GF,conductor 55, the contact members a of down-direction switch 2,conductors 56 and 5'1, a resistor R and conductor 58, to supplyconductor L2. The energization of the field winding GF causes thegenerator G to supply current in one direction to the hoisting motor'EM,and the car starts downwardly.

As the attendant continues the movement of the car switch CS in aclockwise direction, a circult is completed for operating the car athigh speed, which circuit extends from supply conductor L1, throughconductor 40, the contact members 41, 42 and 60, conductor 61, the coilof high-speed relay HR, conductor 46, elevatordoor contact members 4'1,48-and 49 and conductor 50, to supply conductor L2.

The closing of the contact members a on the high-speed relay HR shuntsthe resistor R from the circuit previously traced for the field windingGP to thereby cause the car to travel down at high speed.

Assuming now that the attendant on the car desires to stop the car atthe second floor landing and moves the car switch CS in acounterclockwise direction as the car nears the second floor, therebyopening the contact members 60 and 42 on the car switch CS, then thehigh-speed relay HR will be deenergized to reinsert the resistor R inthe circuit for the field winding GF, thereby causing the car todecelerate to a lower speed.

As the car approaches the second-floor landing. the brush 31 on the armAR of the floor selector F8 engages the "down" contact segment 64 forthe second floor and, the closing or the contact members 0 on thehigh-speed relay HR completes a circuit for energizing theelectromagnetic clutch 18 to grip the ball 19 on the rope 20 so that thedoor 15 will be opened when the rope 20 is moved, which circuit extendsfrom supply conductor Ll, through conductor 62, the contact members 0 ofhigh speed relay HR, conductor 63, brush 31 and contact segment 64 onthe floor selector, conductors 65 and 66, the magnet 18 and conductors67, 68 and 50 to supply conductor L2.

, b of high-speed relay HR, conductors 71, brush 35 and contact segment72 on the floor selector, conductors '73 and 74 the contact strip A, thebrush 24 and the contact strip C on the controlling device 23, andconductors 75 and .50, to

supply conductor L2.

The closing of the contact members a and b.

by way of a circuit from supply conductor L1,

through conductors 4c and 76, the contact members a of relay l0,conductor 78, the generator field winding DGF, conductorsf'l and 80, thecontact members b, conductor 81, resistor DR and conductor 82. to thesupply conductor L2.

The opening of the contact member c on the door-opening relay 10 opensthe circuit for the demagnetizing winding DGF' on the generator DG andprevents a flow of current through that winding while the door motor DMis operating.

The closing of the contact members (1 on thedoor-opening relay 10completes a circuit for energizing the high-speed door relay 11 by way01' a circuit that extends from supply conductor L1, through conductors83 and 84, the contact members all of relay 10, conductor 85, the coilof relay l1, conductor 86, the normally closed contact members a ofrelay 13, conductor 87, brush 34, contact segment 88, conductors 89 and90, the contactc strip B, brush 24 and contact strip C oncontrol device23, and conductors '75 and 50, to supply conductor L2.

The closing of the contact member I; on the relay 11 serves to shunt theresistor section DR from the circuit previously traced for the fieldwinding DGF, thereby allowing full line voltage to be supplied to thegeneratonfield winding DGF to cause generator DG to operate the doormotor DM at high speed. I a

The door motor DM, being operated in a counterclockwise direction athigh speed, rotates the driving sheave 22 in a counter-clockwisedirection and thereby causes-the rope 20 to move in a counter-clockwisedirection. Inasmuch as the rope 20 has been gripped by the energizedclutch 18 on the outer end of the lever 17, the movement of the ropewill operate the lever to open the door at high speed. 7

As the door 15 moves toward its open position, the brush 24 attached tothe door and forming part of the controlling device 23 will be movedalong over the contact strips A, B and C. As

shown, the contact strip B extends throughout the movement of the doorexcept for the last few inches of movement toward open position.Therefore, inasmuch as the contact strip B is connected in the circuitfor the coil of the highspeed door relay ll, when the brush 24 moves offthe end of the contact strip B, the highspeed door relay 11 isdeenergized to open its contact members b for reinserting the resistorDR in circuit with the field winding DGF of 'the generator DG, therebydecelerating the dooroperating motor DM and slowing down the movement ofthe door 15.

It will be observed that reinsertion of resistor DR in the circuit forfield winding DGF lowers the voltage outputol. generator DG and causes aregenerative-braking effect to be applied to the door-operating motorDM. We propose to utilize this regenerative braking to check themovements of the door at the ends of travel and we are thus enabled todispense with dash pots or other retarding devices to bring the doors torest when fully opened or closed.

It will also be noted that the contact strip A on the controlling device23 extends substantially through the full distance of the door movementbut ends at such point that the door will be completely open before thebrush 24 carried thereby moves oil the contact strip A. Inasmuch as thecontact strip A is connected in the circuit for the coil of thedoor-opening relay 10, when the door arrives atits full-open position,and the brush 24-movesbeyond the cutofi end of' the contact strip A, therelay 10 will be deenergized to open its contact members a and b,therebydeenergizing the field winding DGF of -the generator DG andstopping the door -operating motor DM. i

At the same time, the closing of the contact members 0 on the relay 10will energize the demagnetizing winding DGF to prevent the gen-- eratorDG from overrunning by way of a circuit that extends from the brush 91of the generator DG through conductor 92, the contact members 0 ofdoor-opening relay 10, conductor 93, the contact members 0 ofdoor-closing relay 12, conductor 94, the winding DGF' and conductor 95to the brush 96 of the generator DG.

During the operation of the door-opening apparatus, the car C is slowlyapproaching the second floor and finally comes to a stop as the doorreaches its full-open position. The length and position of the contactstrips (64 and '72 for instance) on the floor selector FS may beselected to start the opening of the door at any point desired as thecar approaches a stop at a floor. However, it should be kept in mindthat the clutch contact segment 64. should be slightly longer than thedoor-opening contact '72 to cause the rope to be gripped by the clutchbefore it is moved.

It will be noted that the door contact strip 72 ends at the dotted linerepresenting the second floor and, therefore, that the door-openingrelay 10 cannot be reenergized to open the door after the car leaves thesecond floor while descending until it approaches the first floor.

It should also be noted that the clutch 18 will remain energized whilethe car is standing at the second floor by reason of the closed positionoi the contact members c on the high-speed relay HR and further, thatthe car cannot be started from the second floor until the door 15 andits interlocking contact members 48 are closed.

Assuming now that the stop at the second floor is completed and that theattendant, desiring to restart the car again, moves the car switch CS ina clockwise direction, then, inasmuch as the brush 24 is off the contactstrips A and B but is in engagement with the contact strips C and D onthe controlling device 23, a circuit will be completed for energizingthe door-closing relay 12 to cause the door 15 to close, which circuitextends from supply conductor L1, through conductor 40, the contactmembers 41, 42 and 97 of the car switch CS, conductor 98, the coil ofdoor-closing relay 12 and conductor 99, and thence, in series, throughthe normally closed contact members 0 of the up-dlrectlon switch 1 andthe normally closed contact members c of the down"-directlon switch 2,conductors 100 and 101, floor selector brush 33, contact segment 102,conductor 103 and 104, the contact strip E, the contact brush 24 andcontact strip C on controlling device23, and conductors and 50, tosupply. conductor L2.

The closing of the contact members a and b on the door-closing relay 12energizes field winding DGF of the generator with current in a reversedirection by way of a circuit that extends from supply conductor L1,through conductors 40 and 105, the contact members a of relay 12,

conductor 79, the field winding DGF, conductors 78 and 106, the contactmembers b of relay 12,.

conductors 107 and 81,- resistor DR and conductor 82, to supplyconductor L2. The energiza-,

tion of the field winding DGF causes the generator DG to supply currentin a reverse direction to the door-operating motor DM for runningthatmotor in a clockwise direction.

The closing of the contact members d on the relay 12 completes a circuitfor energizing the extends from the supply conductor L1, throughconductor 83, contact member d of relay 12, conductor 108, the coil ofrelay l3, conductor 109, the contact members a of relay 11, conductors110 and 111, the brush 32 and contact strip 112 of the floor selector,conductor 113, contact strip D, brush 24 and contact strip (3 of thecontrolling device 23, and conductors 75 and 50, to supply conductor L2.

The closing of the contact members b on the high' speed door relay 13serves to shunt the resistor DR. from the circuit previously traced forthe field winding DGF, thereby allowing full line voltage to be suppliedto the winding DGF to cause the door 15 to close at high speed.

As the door nears its completely closed posi tion, the contact brush 24runs oil the contact strip 1) which is connected in circuit with thecoil of the high-speed relay 13 and-thereby deenergizes the relay 13 toopen its contact members b for reinserting the resistor DB in thecircuit previously traced for the field winding DGF of the generator DGfor slowing the door as it approaches its closed position.

As the door continues to, and reaches, its

fully-closed position, the contact brush 24 runs off the contact strip Ewhich is connected in circuit with the coil of the door-closing relay 12and thereby deenergizes relay 12 to open its contact members a and b fordeenergizing the field Winding DGF of the generator DG to effect thestopping of the door motor DM.

The closing of the contact members 0 of the relay 12 completes acircuit, as previously traced, for energizing the demagnetizing windingDGF for deenergizing the generator DG and preventing it fromoverrunning.

When the door 15 reaches its closed position, the door-interlockingcontact members 48 close, and the clown-direction switch 2 is energizedthrough the circuit preLously traced in starting the car, and the carstarts downwardly. Further operation of the car will not be given as itmay be stopped at the bottom floor and at other floors in the manneralready described.

Thus, it will be seen that we have provided an elevator in which thedoors may be opened at high speed as the car approaches its stops andwill be closed at high speed when the car is conditioned to leave itsstops, regardless of sticking or binding of the doors in their tracks.It will also be seen that, by reason of the speed of the door-operatingmotor being controlled by the movement of the door, no dash pots will berequired to decelerate the door and bring it gently hatchway; a motorfor driving said car; means for controlling said motor; a plurality ofdoors in said hatchway; a door motor having an armature and a fieldwinding; mechanism-for controlling said door motor to move any one ofsaid doors between predetermined limit positions, including means forapplying a voltage to said armature; means responsive to the position ofsaid car for initiating operation of said mecha nism to move anyselected one of said doors when said car is in a predetermined positionwith reference to said selected door; and means responsive to theposition of said selected door for controlling said mechanism toestablish connections of said'door motor such that said field winding isenergized, seidyoltage'is zero and said. armature is included in iueslcircuit, when said selected door is in a limit pnsition, whereby saidselected door is brought to rest by dynamic braking.

2. In an elevator system, the combination of a car for serving asplurality of hatchway doors, e

nor

